The members of Rice — an American Band have spent the winter holed up in their basement studio sharpening their tunes and — coincidentally, like Punxsutawney Phil — they will be rising above ground on Saturday.
I don’t expect this eight-piece band from Warwick will make any predictions about the length of winter, but what the group will do is rock the stage at The Stone Church, 210 Main St. in Brattleboro, Vt., making a debut at the newly renovated venue with a 7:30 p.m. show. Opening will be Nate Martel of Outer Stylie.
Rice — an American Band is a collaboration of various Pioneer Valley-based musicians that was born out of a jam session at a party in the summer of 2014. Among those jamming were guitarist Brian DiMartino and Phil Simon. After that, Simon and DiMartino continued collaborating and before they knew it, they were an actual band performing at area clubs and festivals.
The group, led by Simon, currently features Kyle Heon on drums; Lauryn Winiarski on bass; Steve Benson on pedal steel, mandolin and vocals; and Courtney Parker and Emily Jones on vocals. Joshua Leach and DiMartino both play guitar. And it is not unusual for special guests to jump on stage at a Rice show.
At its core, Rice is a rock band, but one that includes elements of country, folk and more in jam-heavy music, much of which is written by Simon. Other band members have gotten involved in songwriting and the band is also known for playing cover songs, ranging from Pink Floyd to The Cranberries.
Simon has a long history in the music business, not so much as a musician, but working behind the scenes. He is the owner of the Orange-based Simon Says Booking, which provides booking and publicity services for an extensive roster of musicians including The Skatalites, Max Creek and Freekbass.
He launched the agency back in the 1990s, when he was living in Oregon. He moved to the East Coast in 2000, working as a booking agent in Boston, and later relaunched Simon Says Booking in western Massachusetts. In addition to all the work he does for Simon Says, Simon hosts the Old 78 Fall Farm Festival in Warwick every year.
However, before the formation of Rice, Simon had limited experience playing in bands.
“I had a band from 1996 to 98 roughly, in Oregon where much of this material originated,” he wrote in an email exchange. “I’ve sat in with a few bands, too, here and there. But this band is by far my biggest personal musical project to date. My first band was called Freaks of Nature and we sure lived up to that name.”
Once he moved to Massachusetts, the guitar and songs were put away as he devoted his time to working as a booking agent. It wasn’t until he started playing with rice that playing music also became a big part of his life.
“Rice — an American Band likewise is a reflection, for me, of all that makes up my life,” Simon said. “I hope that the other band members feel the same way and I feel that here, we are finally maturing and every single band member is taking ownership of the band and their own role in it.”
Rice’s members have said they hope their audiences comes away from their shows with a good idea of the strengths and talents of each band member. They are quite a talented group, some of whom can be found playing with Llama Lasagne, Rodd Cummings and the Vibrators, the Chad Hollister Band and more.
“We’ve settled in, not to comfort, but to a true feeling of admiration and love for each other, and a drive to make this music the most that it possibly can be,” Simon added. “This is the first time in my life where I have felt that true cohesion in a band, that everyone is taking it seriously, not in the pursuit of fame or fortune, but in devotion to an artistic goal, to make this music sound great, but almost as importantly, to make it feel great.”
Rice is a high-energy live band that forms a close connection with its audience, so expect lots of dancing at The Stone Church show.
“We are very excited to be playing Brattleboro for the first time,” Simon added. “While we have played in Vermont, this is our first visit to Brattleboro and our first gig for 2019. We couldn’t be more excited.”
Admission is $5. For more information, visit stonechurchvt.com or call 802-579-9960.
Don’t forget, it’s Winter Carnival weekend in Greenfield, which means there are plenty of activities in town including music. Friday night, Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main St. in Greenfield, will launch a weekend of events starting with a winter ball featuring the band TapRoots.
TapRoots, led by Matthew King of Amherst, is a 12-piece group featuring established musicians who play a danceable blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms, reggae, soul, jazz, hip-hop, samba and rock. Their lyrics take on topical subjects like environmental issues and the Black Lives Matter movement as they celebrate coming together as a diverse community to have a good time.
This show will feature two new band members: master Latin percussionist Yahuba Garcia-Torres and King’s daughter, Zami B-K, who will be singing. Other guests include rappers Catalyst and Force (of The Alchemystics). Wurliday, a funk soul band out of Albany, N.Y., will open the show.
The celebration continues Saturday with the Winter Carnival Jam-boree at 4 p.m. Presented by Under the Tree Arts, the Jam-boree is a chance for children up to 8 years old to immerse themselves in an hour of art and music. The celebration wraps up Saturday night at 8 p.m. with a mid-winter reggae bash that will feature music by local acts Dave Noonan’s Green Island, Rebelle, Rhythm Incorporated and I-Ganic Sound System.
Admission for the TapRoots show is $10 in advance; $13 at the door. Admission to the Jam-boree is $7 for children; adults and infants are admitted for free. The reggae bash is $10 in advance; $15 day of show.
For more information, visit hawksandreed.com or call 413-774-0150.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at soundslocal@yahoo.com.